Georgia Babies

NBR as always....Granite, DARK or not dark

So in the kitchen renovation we need to pick our granite.  DH likes the dark stuff, I am not leaning that way and wondering if there are any down sides to dark vs lighter granite countertops.  Thanks for any insight.

Re: NBR as always....Granite, DARK or not dark

  • Ours is Tropic Brown....its dark, but not as dark as the black ones.   We love it!
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  • i think lighter (brown) would be better - hide makeup, water spots, etc..

    ETA: i don't know why i read bathroom, not kitchen.

    no preference.

    Jen & T.J. 6.17.06 BabyBlog * my chart *
    Joseph Henry was born at home on March 9, 2009
    Nora Mae was born at home on October 30, 2011
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  • Tropic brown is a contender...

    FYI cabinets are a pecan/harvest color.  Warm finish.

  • I may be in the minority, but I prefer a lighter color so I can see the dirt.   I hate having to get down at eye level with my counters to see the crumbs. 
  • I have cherry cabinets and white, black and grey speckled granite. Our house was a spec house and not something I would have picked but I really like the lighter looking granite against the darker cabinets. It brightens up what would otherwise be a dark kitchen. I like the swily brown granite not the speckled brown granite. I hope that helps, I'd go lighter rather than darker. I can't wait to see pictures of the finished product!
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  • Oh I prefer lighter....trying to find a happy medium with DH.
  • I like a dark granite normally, but if you are doing a dark cabinet I would do a lighter granite.  Looks good to have a contrast.  I am so jealous of all the fun decorating you are getting to do.  Have fun!
  • I actually think it's easier to see the dirt on the darker granites...we had the dark green Ooba Tuba at our last house, and this time we have the brown/black/white speckled stuff (can't remember the name but very popular) and it's much harder to actually see the dirt....which is good I guess b/c I'm a crappy housekeeper :)
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  • What color are your walls and floor?  It needs to be balanced.  You could do dark countertops with dark cabinets if you have plenty of lighting (which I know you just got) and light walls and even a lighter back splash.  My cabinets are a green/gray color w/ a slate glaze and my countertops are I believe, Santa Cecelia.  I would consider them middle of the road.  Not light or dark.
  • We went through this exact issues when we did our kitchen a few years ago.  Our old kitchen was really dark so I was sold on doing lighter counters.  However, someone convinced us that we could do darker if we wanted because horizontal surfaces don't have as much impact as verical ones.  We wound up with a darker Cambria and I love it...it's black with brownish spots which is great because it doesn't show dirt!  If you'd like, PM me and I can send you a link to pictures.  Oh yeah, we have medium cabinets--natural cherry.  Good luck with the renovation!
    2004-Started TTC; Nov 2007-Lap with endo removed; Jan 2008-Ectopic (mtx); April 2008-IVF #1 (bfp, twin girls); March 2011-FET (cp); June 2012-IVF #2 (bfp, singleton, EDD 3-19-12)

    ***Twin fraternal girls born at 35w6d in 12/2008***

  • I have a midnight black granite and would never pick a dark one again. The dark one easily shows water marks and you have to constantly clean.
  • I like contrast.  So dark cabinets with light granite or light cabinets with dark granite.  We have dark cabinets w/ light granite and the good thing is that it hides a lot.  The bad thing is that it hides a lot.  I hate putting my hand on the counter and not realizing it is a sticky mess!  For that reason, I prefer my parents black granite... I'm OCD and it's easy to see when it's dirty.

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  • We have the tropic brown, and while I love the way it looks, it is sometimes hard to see where to clean.  Of course I wipe them all down, but once in a while I'll miss a spot because I didn't see it.  We have dark cabinets as well.
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  • We have light cabinets (i hate them), but our granite is Tropic Brown.  I love it.
  • FYI our cabinets are a pecan finish or harvest medium warm golden brown.  I am going to paint some kind of yellow I think.  The floor is hardwoods natural oak finish.  If that helps, because the cabinets are middle of the road in color regarding dark/light finish we can go either way on the granite I think.

    We just put in canned lights and will have under counter lights, so it will be plenty light.

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